Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)’ Named the ‘Catchiest’ Soccer Song of All Time

Shakira’s “Waka, Waka (This Time For Africa)” has been named “the catchiest soccer song,” according to new research obtained by SeatPick. 

The Colombian singer’s trilingual bop featuring Freshlyground — which served as the official FIFA song for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa — earned an 8.4 of 10 score based on danceability, energy, speechiness (the number of spoken words), and valence (how positive the track is), in the report from the Israel-based event technology company. 

“The main phrase ‘Waka Waka’ has been repeated a significant number of times to emphasize its importance (Waka Waka means ‘do it’ in Cameroonian),” Jacob Cohen, professor of music appreciation from Baruch College, New York, said in a press statement. “There is a major change at 1:04, as a cymbal-like instrument is introduced to add more variation to the melody. Furthermore, the new vocalist at 2:12 generates a unique kind of exotic sensation to its listeners.” 

SeatPick conducted the research in honor of the upcoming UEFA European Football Championship taking place June 14 to July 14 in Germany. The methodology included: collating the top 25 World Cup songs from platforms Deezer, NME, ThisIsDig, and UDiscoverMusic; scraping data from the Spotify API; and views from YouTube videos were also considered. Data was collected on Nov. 22, 2022. 

“Waka Waka” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, Latin Airplay, and Latin Pop Airplay charts in July 2010. On the Latin Rhythm Airplay, it peaked No. 8 and reached a No. 38 high on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the same period. It also spent 42 weeks at No. 1 on Latin Digital Song Sales, Shak’s longest-leading title on that chart. 

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the song resurfaced the charts and made its debut on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, peaking at No. 46, and No. 96 on the Billboard Global 200, making history as the only official World Cup song or anthem from previous years to appear on the Billboard global charts.

Other “catchy” Latin soccer anthems that ranked on SeatPick’s research include Ricky Martin’s “La Copa de la Vida;” Pitbull’s “We Are One (Ole, Ola);” and Nicky Jam’s “Live It Up.” 

See the full chart below: